Kirkwood’s student media clubs made a strong showing at the Iowa College Media Association’s annual awards ceremony Feb. 5 in Des Moines, bringing home 13 awards. Kirkwood Student Productions earned four honors, while the Communiqué captured nine.
The achievement is notable because Kirkwood competes primarily against four-year institutions throughout the state.
Gibson Lowenberg, web editor and newscast coordinator, won second place in the feature photo category. Lowenberg said winning the award is a huge honor.
“We are competing against four-year schools with more experienced students, more resources and more funding,” he said. “Being able to win anything is a huge accomplishment. Winning 13 as a school is just amazing to me. I plan on adding these awards to my portfolio to help show future employers how versatile I am as a journalist.”
He explained the winning photo was taken at one of the first jazz jams.
“I was hoping to capture one of the musicians in a flow state. I feel like I accomplished that, and apparently the judge agreed with me,” he said.
“The most challenging part of the photo was the lighting. The curtains on Sammy’s Stage weren’t down, so it was really difficult to get photos that didn’t come out super overexposed. I’m just lucky that Kota (Winterboer), our photo editor, was able to fix the photos I did end up getting because that lighting was very difficult to work with,” he added.
Lowenberg also earned an honorable mention with Lauren Smith, former opinion editor, for their story “Students drive climate initiative.” Lowenberg said the purpose of the article was to share updates about the college’s Climate Action Plan, and they had fun doing an in-depth interview.
Tia Slippy, former KSP producer and current interim study abroad adviser at Kirkwood, led the Veterans History Project that won first place in the long-form documentary category.
“It was such an honor to interview these amazing veterans for the Veterans History Project,” said Slippy. “I was so blessed to work on this project with my fellow classmates in Kirkwood Student Productions. It was a team effort, and I am so grateful for each of them. This award is shared with the KSP media team, but the real honor goes to those who sacrificed everything for us.”
“Through this project, we really wanted to show everyone the person behind the uniform. Hearing their stories, their heart for America and how their experiences shaped them as a person really impacted me,” Slippy said.
“Veterans, and everyone who serves our country, sacrifice so much for us. I feel that we, myself included, can take that for granted sometimes. I was deeply inspired by their bravery and perseverance, even when facing possible death,” she added.
Slippy said what stood out to her most was the strength of each individual.
“Many of them endured very traumatic events, yet they were right in front of me, still strong. I was in such awe,” she said.
“The topics were very heavy, yet they each were so grateful for what they had. They had sufferings beyond imagination, yet their gratitude and appreciation for this country helped me reflect on my freedoms that they paid for. Since they persevered through such hardship and are still grateful, we can learn from them, too.”
The Veterans History Project video is part of a larger collection of veteran stories available to the public at grassley.senate.gov/veteranshistoryproject.
Kirkwood Student Productions
1st place – Best Long Form Video Documentary: Tia Slippy and KSP Crew
1st place – Best Experimental Video: Elle McFarlane
2nd place – Best Video Promo or PSA: Tia Slippy
3rd place – Best Short Film: Drew Johannes
Communiqué
1st place – Best Headline Writing: Communique Staff
1st place – Best News Photo: Josh Ngari
2nd place – Best News Photo: Marloe Spencer
3rd place – Best Feature Photo: Gibson Lowenberg
Honorable mention – Best Staff Editorial: Communique Leadership
Honorable mention – Best Front Page: Communique Staff
Honorable mention – Best News Article: Lauren Smith and Gibson Lowenberg
Honorable mention – Best News Photo: Marvin Johnson
Honorable mention – Best Sports Photo: Kota Winterboer
Categories: Campus News, News
